Changes in US patent law to impact global biotech

"This is going to save money because litigation on patents is so expensive, in the millions of dollars whether in Australia or the US. This post-grant review process may be in the several hundred thousand dollars but the cost savings will be incredible," said Dr Haile.

"I think we'll see less litigation because of it. It will be important if you're in Australia or the US, more than ever to monitor your competitors' patents because of the nine-month window. If you miss the window, the only way to attack the patents is back through the court system, which is very expensive," she said. "From a practitioner perspective, people will have to be careful to obtain patents to ensure they're solid. No doubt it will affect the filing of patents in Australia and the US."

Dr Haile believes that these developments that are occurring in the US patent law will be hot topics of discussion at the conference because they are significant and affect the rest of the world. In the ever-changing biotechnology industry, Dr Haile describes the evolution of the complexion of her practice over the years. With the ability to obtain venture funding getting a lot harder, early starter life science companies are relying more on government grants.

"In my experience, large companies have the resources to spend on patents which are critically important in the life sciences industry. In particular, patents are critical for early start-up companies and can greatly influence the market's valuation of the company and ability to raise funds from the private sector," she said

Furthermore Dr Haile said that, "I started out as a research scientist in the non-profit world and my background is in science and developing new drugs. There are so many amazing technologies sitting on the shelf right now and this incredible technology may have attracted investment a few years ago."

1Comment

Intellectual property is increasingly becoming an interesting space to watch in the bioscience industry. With drug patents under threat in countries like India, there is indeed much happening on this front. Clearer and more uniform laws are welcome